FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Germinated Rice with Tomatoes & Mozzarella

by

Germinated Rice wtih Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Our first dinner at the Casale Di Valle was memorable in so many ways.  All of the Storytellers were together around a single table for the first time.  We were familiar faces, familiar voices, but we didn’t know each other at all {a frequent feeling in the blogging world}.  And over the course of our first dinner, a home cooked meal by Chef Ana and an array of DaVinci Wines, we’d skip straight past acquaintance to friendship.

Chopped Grape Tomatoes

The meal consisted of a variety of grilled meat and veggies and a grain salad I would never forget: farro with fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, and a simple seasoning of salt and pepper.  Such an ordinary list of ingredients may leave you wondering why this dish was so memorable.  But its simplicity allowed the flavor of each ingredient to shine. And it was the first time I had ever noticeably appreciated the taste of olive oil.  I’d be sure to bring a few bottles of Chef Ana’s olive oil of choice home with me.

Homemade Goats Milk Mozzarella_

Oh and the wine!  The wine allowed us to enjoy each other’s company long past the point of jet lag exhaustion.  We started with Pinot Grigio and, from there, moved to Chianti and Chianti Riserva.  This meal would also be the the first of many meals where all three wines {and occasionally the Brunello} would be passed across the table, from friend to friend, to complement our meal.

My version of Chef Ana’s recipe below pairs wonderfully with DaVinci Chianti.

Array

Germinated Rice With Shrimp & Veggies

by

Germinated Rice with Shrimp

I just can’t get enough of germinated rice lately.  It has such great flavor and chew that it barely needs any stuff to make it unbelievably tasty.  But even though it doesn’t need a ton of stuff, I needed a ton of stuff {veggies} after weeks and weeks of non-stop-ness.

Zucchini & Asparagus

I picked up my three favorite grain-mixin’ veggies {asparagus, zucchini, squash} and decided to let them all play a part in a single meal.  And then I added shrimp.  Lots and lots of shrimp.

Sauteed Shrimp

And what came together was a dish you could scoop into a big bowl a few nights in a row and still wish there was enough leftover the night after!

Array

Summer Soup

by

Summer Soup with Chicken

After a weekend filled with the cloudiest, coldest weather Austin has seen in months, I couldn’t stop thinking about soup.  And not just any soup, but a soup I consider making often {but haven’t} since its conception in July of 2012.  How can time be passing so quickly??

Soup Veggies

Since creating this recipe, a couple things of changed.  For one, I’m eating a heck of a lot more meat {so I added chicken}!  I’d blame that on living in Texas if I hadn’t spent most of my Dallas year as a vegetarian.  And second, the FoodFash kitch has become way gluten-free.  I must say that I prefer this soup with udon noodles, but if you’re cooking without gluten, then this rice spaghetti is a more-than-fine substitute.

Original FoodFash recipe.

Array

Sirloin & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

by

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

This past weekend, I spent a lot of time getting cozy with nature and this book. And even though there was a seemingly quotable line on every page, there was one quote in particular that resonated with me – “The right constraints can lead you to your very best work”.

Cubed Sirloin

I haven’t yet addressed why the past 50 days have been filled with gluten-free and dairy-free recipes, because I had {still have} hopes that it was irrelevant.  My intention isn’t to deliver good gluten/dairy free recipes, it is to deliver delicious recipes. Period.

And to circle back around to the above referenced quote, I can’t help but believe that these constraints are creating a better FoodFash.

Quinoa Stuffing

So today I bring you another delicious recipe: orange peppers {turned yellow in the oven} stuffed with cubed sirloin, quinoa, and some staple stuffed-pepper veggies.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers 3Using cubed sirloin and quinoa gave this dish texture and prevented the mush that is so commonly associated with traditional stuffed peppers.  The onions, tomatoes, and garlic provided the bulk of the flavor.  And the bell pepper, well the bell pepper provided the most photogenic bowl ever {and some additional flavor as well}.

Array